


Nothing Is Ever Easy

by TheBestTeacup



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Anti-Jaha, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Marcus being Marcus, People losing their minds, mentions of torture, mostly angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 14:20:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6427351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBestTeacup/pseuds/TheBestTeacup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marcus returns to Arkadia, and Pike is defeated; but things are far worse than he ever imagined they would be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing Is Ever Easy

**Author's Note:**

> Just something my muse whispered at me to write last night. Sorry not sorry. Never ever sorry.

Marcus had seen and heard a lot of dark things since they had come to earth. He had witnessed a young boy be murdered for his war crimes, he watched his people tortured at the hands of a deranged leader, and he had dealt with the manic rule that was Pike’s reign. He had held Octavia as she witnessed Lincoln’s assassination and watched on as the girl took her wrath out on her once beloved brother. He heard of the tragic death of Lexa, and how her “successor” murdered children in order to gain the commander’s throne.

Yes, to Marcus the earth was filled with too much darkness but he persevered. He pushed himself from day to day to make sure that the darkness would one day end, and he used one person to guide his way when he had moments of complete doubt.

Abby.

There was a time when he was her biggest opposition, and yet somehow she had worked whatever magic she possessed and turned him to her way of thinking. Day by day she taught him what being a true leader was, while also teaching him that he was not the cold shell of a man that he had been so convinced he was.

Abby was his world, the one he lived for, his goddess. He was nothing without her, and as long as she survived then he could face any darkness, any conflict. As long as she was standing beside him there was nothing he couldn’t face. It was the memory of her lips pressed against his, the memory of her hands so strong and sure gripping at his hair, the memory of her warmth and love that got him through the past weeks. It was what drove him to plan the best way to get Arkadia back, and it kept him warm on the long cold nights he spent in Lincoln’s cave.

It was the memory of his light bringer that fueled his final attack on Pike, and when all was said and done it seemed too simple. The man barely stood a chance when so many of his guard had secretly turned on him; and as soon as Octavia got near even those who still stood by their chancellor failed. Nothing was going to stop the young warrior from seeking her revenge.

Marcus had visibly flinched when O took her sword and slashed Pike’s throat, and that too could only be attributed to Abby. The Marcus of old, the one from the sky, never would have flinched. He would have watched the death of the manic tyrant with a glint of glee. He would have been happy to see such a threat to their people destroyed.

Now that was not the case, now he was relieved to see that there might be hope for their relationship with the grounders, but also sad that a once good man had lost his life. And he felt something was still off. Peace and happiness and the end of the war for their people should not have been so easily won. Earth had taught him that, that nothing was easy.

And it wasn’t.

Because he found out, minutes after Pike’s body had been carted away from the camp yard, that the other threat to their people had escalated faster than he or Abby could have ever imagined.

It was Raven who approached him, shortly after he gave orders to the guard to secure camp, and it was Raven who told him the story of what had happened in his absence. And as she spoke the darkness of earth, the pain and devastation that their people faced every day, closed in on him. Because his light bringer, his goddess, his love, was gone and there was a chance he might not get her back.

It was a gruesome tale. One about chips that altered people’s memories, and one of torture. Abby’s torture. Abby’s torture at Jaha’s hands.

She had been restrained, and taunted. Jaha- the man that Marcus had once followed without question- had cruelly reminded Abby of all her failures. He apparently told her over and over and over that she was a murderer, and a horrible mother, and that she couldn’t even keep her people safe when it mattered. Jaha blamed Abby for the fate that had befallen their camp, and for Marcus’ near death, and Lincoln’s actual death.

_“If only you had kept the pin Abby, if only you hadn’t allowed an election to take place. Then again you have always been known to make poor decisions.”_

He had scolded her for hours, hoping to get her to take the chip he was always peddling, hoping to convert someone of influence to his side. His taunts failed of course. Sure, they caused her to cry and to shrink away, but she still refused to take the blue pill he kept thrusting at her. So he tried a different tactic. He pushed on her thigh, right over the scar tissue that still caused her trouble even months after her torture and in she opened her mouth to issue a pain filled gasp; and he in turn shoved the chip down her throat.

What followed this part of the tale boggled Marcus’ mind. There was something involving a computer program, and a hallucination called ALIE, and the City of Light that Jaha was always preaching about. Raven rattled on about free will, and how she found herself being tortured by nightmarish images when she began to fight back against the technology. Others began to follow her, realizing that they were losing themselves to whatever Jaha had given them, and falling into madness when they tried to escape the hold the chip had on their minds.

Except those people had willingly taken the pill, and their madness was nothing too extreme, mostly nightmares that haunted them as they tried valiantly to overcome ALIE.

Abby however had not taken the pill willingly, so the effects for her were much more extreme.

Marcus nearly threw up as Raven told him about Abby wandering around aimlessly for hours on end; how she seemed calm at first, but soon she began to crack and break. She began screaming at the air, thinking she was seeing Jake or Clarke, or even Marcus himself. She was caught apologizing to a plant that she thought was Lincoln, and on one horrifying morning Monty found the woman fully clothed and shivering in a shower that’s water had gone cold. Apparently she had been trying to wash off the blood of a child she couldn’t save.

Pike soon learned what had befallen the beloved doctor, and at a loss as to what to do (because he couldn’t kill her without extreme backlash) he locked her in a room in a remote part of camp, and told everyone she had run off to join the rebels. He then ordered that Jaha be apprehended, except as usual nothing was ever that easy. The once chancellor realized his error and had escaped the day before with the few followers he still had, and no one was sure as to where he was heading or what his next plan was.

Marcus stopped listening at this point, his heart hammering in his chest as he thought of Abby locked up somewhere, trapped in a madness that she couldn’t escape. His light was gone, all because he hadn’t been there to protect her, because he hadn’t insisted on her escaping with him. No, he had idiotically kissed her and let her go, because it made sense to keep her there at the time. What a fool he had been.

“Kane are you even listening to me?”

Marcus jumped as Raven shook him by the shoulder, his tear filled eyes boring into hers, “Where is she Raven? I know she isn’t herself, but I need to see her, I need her to know she is not alone.”

The young mechanic rolled her eyes in frustration, “So you haven’t been listening.” At his confused stare, she turned on her heel, indicating he should follow as she stormed to medical, “There is a cure Marcus.”

“A cure?”

“Yep. In his haste Jaha left the chip maker behind, which was stupid on his part, but benefits us greatly. Monty being the technological genius he is used the machine to create chips that reverse the effects of the originals. Me, Jackson, Jasper, and the others who stayed behind are all better. I will take this pain in my hip over the hell that was ALIE any day.”

“So Abby is fine?”

Hope had begun to bloom in his chest at the prospect of a cure, but it died just as quickly when Raven cast him a wary look.

“Not exactly.”

“What do you mean? If there is a cure then she should be fine just lik-“

“We can’t get her to take it,” Raven sighed, “We have all tried. She nearly knocked out Monty in her fight against him; and while she let both me and Jackson get close, as soon as she saw the pill she flipped out.” She held up a bandaged hand and grimaced, “She has quite the strong bite.”

Raven pushed through the curtain to medical and Marcus took a moment to allow Jackson and Jasper to greet him, before he turned his focus back on the mechanic, “Where are the chips? And where is Abby?”

“Marcus, I don’t know if that-“

Jackson stopped whatever he was going to say when Marcus turned a glare on him before refocusing on the girl in front of him, “Well?”

Smiling, Raven pulled a box down from the shelf and from it pulled a purplish disc the size of her thumbnail, “I knew you would be up for the job.”

~~~

And that was how Marcus found himself on the east side of camp, heart threading nervously in his chest as he waited for the guards stationed there to unlock the door that was before him. The small disc pulsed in his hand, and he quickly tucked it into his shirt pocket so the woman inside wouldn’t be alarmed by its presence. Apparently even a glance at it sent her into a manic state, which wasn’t surprising given how she had been forced to take its predecessor.

David Miller pulled the door open after what felt like an eternity, and gave Marcus an encouraging smile as the former commander stepped into the dimly lit room in front of him. He had barely crossed the threshold when the door slid shut behind him, and he was left in mostly darkness. For a moment he couldn’t see anything or anyone in the room, but as his eyes adjusted he took in a crumpled shape in the far corner.

There she was, his Abby, curled into a tight ball, her body shaking in fear. Her hair had long fallen from its usual ponytail, and was now wild around her head and dirtier than he had ever seen it. Even in the dim light he could make out the dirtiness of her clothes, and the filth that caked her skin, and it took all of his energy not to cry at the sight. She had apparently only been locked up for a little over a week, but she looked as if it had been years, especially when she glanced up at him and he fully took in the hollowness of her eyes.

For a brief moment, as their eyes locked and acknowledgement filled Abby’s, Marcus felt a flittering of relief. Perhaps, despite her apparent break from sanity, she would remember him and trust him enough to take the pill that was still resting in his pocket. That, like most of the day’s hope, fled in an instant as Abby shrank further against the wall and let out a blood curdling shriek.

“No!” She whimpered, shaking her head frantically, “No no no no!”

At first Marcus stood still in shock, but when she moved from shaking her head to slamming it against the metal bulkhead behind her he leaped into action and fell to the ground beside her, his hands coming up to grab hold of her head before she could inflict any lasting damage to herself. “Abby, shhhh,” he pleaded, trying to get her to open her eyes and look at him, “Abby please stop, it’s okay, everything is okay.”

“You aren’t real,” she whimpered, trying to fight against his hold, “you aren’t real.”

“I am real Abby, just look at me and you will see, I am real and I am right here with you. “

“No, you’re dead. You’re all dead.”

Marcus’ heart broke at the utter hopelessness in her voice, something he never thought he would hear, and he leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers, not stopping even when she tensed further in his grasp.

“Just open your eyes Abby, please, just open your eyes and look at me.”

After what seemed like an eternity Abby’s eyelids flickered open and Marcus smiled gently as her brown eyes connected with his once more.

“I know you aren’t real, but it is nice to imagine you without blood for once.”

Fighting to keep his eyes open, to not close them against the pain of her words, Marcus stroked Abby’s cheek and tried his hardest to smile reassuringly at her, “I know you don’t understand right now, but I promise you I am real, and I am here to help you.”

“Are you here to kill me?”

“What!?”

She didn’t seem to note the horror in his voice as she leaned closer, her eyes open wide with the first sign of hope he had seen on her since he entered the room, “Are you going to finally put me out of my misery? I know you said that I deserved to live with my guilt, but perhaps you have changed your mind?”

Marcus cringed, not liking this glimpse into the things she must have been imagining, but before he could tell her he was not there to kill her, an idea came to him. Hating himself, he nodded slowly as he ignored the relief that was shining in her eyes, “Y-Yes, I am here to kill you.”

“Oh thank you Marcus! Thank you!”

He nodded somberly, his heart cracking all the more as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the small purple disc. Abby’s eyes flickered down to it, and Marcus gave a prayer of thanks that she did not react as harshly at the sight as she had for Raven and the others.

“You need to take this Abby, and I promise all your misery will be over.”

“I can be with you?”

Tears pooled in his eyes and he nodded quickly, “Yes, you can be with me.”

She smiled a dazed little smile, and opened her mouth; her eyes piercing into his as he shakily brought the chip up and placed it on her tongue. No sooner had he done so did she draw it into her mouth and swallow, smiling brightly up at him before flinging her arms around his neck.

“Thank you Marcus. I am so ready to leave this place.”

Then before she could say another word, she had passed out against him. Because nothing was ever that easy.

~~~

Three days later Marcus was discussing expanding the fence with Sinclair when his radio crackled to life and informed him that he was needed in medical. The engineer beside him smiled brightly and clapped him on the back as Marcus rushed towards the entrance of the Ark, his body shaking with anticipation.

Abby had been out from the moment she had taken the pill, and Jackson had assured him that it was because her body was in desperate need of rest. That still didn’t lesson his worry as the days passed and she had yet to wake up or even stir; and as he made his way to her resting place he prayed he would find good news on the other side of the red curtain, and not anything more to worry about.

It seemed as if the universe was smiling down on him that day, for as he pushed his way into the room his eyes instantly fell on a sitting and smiling Abby.

“Marcus,” she whispered, voice hoarse with disuse, as she reached out her arms towards him.

In an instant he was across the room, not caring that Jackson and some of the medical aids were watching, gathering Abby into his arms and burying his nose into her neck.

“Marcus, I was so afraid, so sure that you were d-“

“Shhhh,” he lightly admonished, “none of that. I am here, and I am alive, and everything is going to be okay.”

Abby trembled in his arms, and Marcus inwardly curse Jaha for the hundredth time as he felt her tears begin to dampen his shirt, “I tried to fight him Marcus, I tried to be strong for our people, and I failed. I am so so sorry.”

“No, you didn’t fail.” He pulled back and cupped her cheeks in his hands, his thumbs wiping at her tears as his own began to fall, “Raven and Jasper told me you fought for hours, that you did everything you could not to give in. It isn’t your fault Jaha played dirty in the end, and no one blames you or judges you for what happened.”

“Still I-“

“No!” He interrupted once more, “no ‘still.’ You do not get to apologize for this. The only one who will answer for what happened will be Jaha, just as soon as I get my hands on him.”

Abby smiled lightly, before weariness seemed to wash over her again, “Can you do something for me?”

“Anything.”

“Will you hold me? I know you are busy, but just for a bit? So if I wake up I will know right away I am not in that place again.”

Marcus pressed a kiss against her hair and shifted them so he was lying beside her, his arms pulling her tight against his side. That was the easiest thing he ever had to do.


End file.
